Young American Idiots

For a 50+ year old with no kids, I seem to have acquired a lot of young Facebook and Twitter friends and followers. Have I mentioned lately how much I dislike children? Anyway, I can't figure out why these young idiots feel the need to post their thoughts online, because they have so few of their own! With few exceptions, their statuses are something copied from somewhere else, either song lyrics that don't apply to them, unattributed "quotations" that aren't as wise as the child thinks they are, declarations of love or pain on the loss of the boy or girl they've been "in a relationship" with for less than two weeks,.or photos or videos they are "sharing."

Some days like today, I'll be in a perfectly good mood, but I'll read something that  I SWEAR is calculated to reward me with a one-way ticket to hell. I have this intense urge to reply to these statuses (statusi?) and point out how dumb they are. My mature side prevents me from doing this, but I have to reply somewhere. So since no one reads my blogs anyway, why not here?

So in no particular order, here we go!

AW: Don't Give Up Hope Some People Change
     Me: But most don't. Cut your losses and move on!

AW: Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game 
    Me:  If you're that afraid of striking out, choose a sport you are better at.

TH: Is in a relationship with CL
TH: Is single
TH: It's complicated
TH: Is in a relationship with BC
TH: Is single
TH: Is in a relationship with BC
TH: Is single
etc, etc, etc.....
Me:  STAY SINGLE! You're clearly not ready for/incapable of a serious relationship!

DW: I'm bored
Me:  I WISH I had time to be as bored as you!
DW (following night)   Someone call me. I'm bored.
Me: What, did you forget how to masturbate?
DW: (third night in a row) I wish there was something to do.
Me:.......

That's all for now. But I will add to it later, when (not "if") the need arises.


  

East Tawas, Michigan

East Tawas is a GREAT town to take Grandma and/or Grandpa to! The sidewalks are evenly paved with bricks, making it easy to walk or roll over, but textured enough to not be slippery. ALL of the shops, and businesses we encountered today on Newman Street, the "main drag" were easily accessible with my rolling walker, although some were a bit of a tight fit. Elevators are available for the second floor spaces, and public restrooms are plentiful and clearly marked. I would avoid Norman's, the big green monstrosity on the corner of Newman and Bay Streets, however. It's cluttered enough to be a fire hazard.

Besides Newman Street, the state dock and adjoining day-use park are also easy to get to and pleasant. There is also a sidewalk along the bay side of US-23 from East Tawas all the way back to Tawas City, with many benches along the way if you need to stop and rest.

Several of the East Tawas eateries have outdoor dining available. Just today we noticed G's Pizzeria, Marion's Dairy Bar, Barnacle Bill's and Jacks's with outdoor seating. It was just a touch on the chilly side today, though, so only Marion's actually had diners outdoors. But we did notice on Newman Street several of the decorative benches were occupied, as people enjoyed the weather and visited. 

We were excited to see that several of the "gift shops" carried unique items that you just don't find in your run-of-the-mill tourist trap shops. Our favorite stop of the day was Brew Crew. My sister was intrigued by several series of unique figurines. One group was some freaky frogs, and another series were just regular people. I fell in LOVE with a mirror/art piece that I thought would be great to put on the wall of the living room to serve as a "last glance" before heading out or a place to fix your hair when you took your hat off. BUT it was over $90 so I had to pass. I did buy a bag of cherry dog treats, made in Michigan, not China, so I feel perfectly safe feeding them to my beloveds.

The other side of the store sold wine and wine-related items, spice mixtures, bottled sauces, and spiffy kitchen tools. They had a section of Michigan wines, and I was delighted to be shown two labels I'd never heard of before. The staff were all so helpful and knowledgeable; a real pleasure to browse!

There were at least two antiques shops on the main drag, and who doesn't love antiques?   There is also a small restaurant on US-23 between Tawas City and East Tawas called Augie's On The Bay. Good "home cooking" type place with a wonderful view!

Bottom line, take Grandpa fishing at the state dock, Grandma to the antique store, and on a hot Saturday afternoon take them to the matinee at the Family Theater. In the evenings, look for shows at the Playhouse, band concerts at the park, or for a drive out to Tawas Point or Lumberman's Monument/Iargo Springs when the wildlife starts stirring before dusk. I'm sorry I have no idea about the accessibility of any of the family-owned motels or cabins, but there are several chain motels between the Tawases and Oscoda.

Downtown Mt Pleasant

One of my many physical weaknesses involves my vision. I am completely blind in my right eye. The left eye has a narrow field of vision, does not see colors the same way other people do, and is sensitive to bright light. Having sight in only one eye makes depth perception difficult, and 3-D movies are wasted on me. Then there's the whole problem with driving.

I love driving on wide-open two lane highways through farmland. I generally don't mind driving 25 mph through residential neighborhoods in town. But freeways, particularly in heavy traffic; busy city traffic; driving after dark; and driving through wooded areas where you drive in and out of the sunlight is difficult for me and makes me very nervous. And since nearly everywhere I might want or need to drive involves traveling east to get there and west to get home, or at least part of the trip is, I prefer to make appointments in early afternoon to avoid driving into the sun when it's low on the horizon.

My LEAST favorite place to drive is Mt Pleasant. Mission Road makes even my friends from metro Detroit cringe to drive. Downtown is peppered with one-way streets, stop signs along streets lined with parallel parked cars. Also the city is densely populated with young, silly adults, especially during the school semesters, and these people tend to step of the curb into traffic, ride their bicycles erratically and drive out of side streets with little or no regard to traffic many times more often than old people drive into farmer's markets.

So! Yesterday I drove into downtown Mt Pleasant for my first visit to my new shrink, Lynn. Downtown meaning almost right on Broadway, and it wasn't nearly as bad as I feared. There is much more free parking downtown than I anticipated, and there is a good sized lot right across the street from Lynn's office. The downtown sidewalks are very smooth and have sloped curbs with some kind of anti-slip texturing at each corner. Lynn's building is easy to get into, as well--no steps, stairs or steep slopes, and the door stays open when you swing it open.

I'm looking forward to visiting downtown Mt Pleasant a few times per month during the summer. Maybe I'll do a bit of "spinorting" before and/or after each visit. It looks very handicap and foot traffic friendly from what I've seen. I know the theater is easy to navigate, but there are other buildings like Gray's furniture that are impossible for the differently-abled. As I find out more, I'll report on it.

I'm BAAAAAAAACK!

I stopped blogging for a few months because I busied myself with animal rescue efforts. But now that my page is established I needn't treat it like a full-time job anymore.

But I have some news on the Gimpfront! If you need to take Grandma, Grandpa, or any differently-abled loved one somewhere nice, take them to Gladwin!  Start with the city park, with their nicely paved trails along the shady river. A person with a rolling walker, a motorized scooter or a manual wheelchair can easily stroll along the riverbank. Many benches are provided if you need a lot of rest breaks. The sound of the river is soothing and drowns out the traffic on M-61.

Need a relaxing lunch or dinner? Head across the street to Riverwalk Place. The parking lot features easy parking with amply handicap spaces near the front door. The entire parking lot is on level with the front door, and the Riverwalk Grill entrance is on the same level. They feature everything from daintily delectable salads to hearty full meals, have Sunday dinner buffets and special buffet dinners available for holidays such as upcoming Mother's Day. Some of the seating is on an upper level, but the same-level seating is along the window side. You can call ahead and let them know you have a party with one or more member who can't use stairs, and they will happily have a window table waiting for you. But if you are merely going for a weekday lunch, you won't even need to call ahead.

After lunch, the women of your party may wish to visit the Oasis Salon and Spa--and you need appointments for this. The spa offers the usual massages, body treatments, and soaks; facials; pedicures, and a variety of packages to choose from. The Salon can work wonders on your hair, give you a makeover, and teach you how to keep it all up yourself at home. Although most people use the wide, elegant stairway to reach the Oasis on the second floor, there is also an elevator for those who need it.

Riverwalk Place offers weekend, overnight, golf, and girls-only packages that take advantage of the condos, hotel rooms, the grill and the spa. The prices may seem high, but in terms of what you get, they are worth it for special occasions! I was there twice in April to have my hair styled (finally!  I got the cut I've been wanting for years!), and colored (much more "natural" and believable than the color job I had from another business last year!); and later for a spa afternoon. I have another hair appointment a few days before my birthday in May, and plan to take my sister there for her 50th birthday.

I'm A Heartless, Cruel Wife!

A few days ago Bill got off the phone with one of his lawnmower buddies and said, "I don't want to go to Florida. It takes about 24 hours to get there, then you're racing for two days and come right back."

Now, no one was saying he HAD to go, but he had a few friends that were making it sound tempting. And after almost 20 years of being with Bill, I know that if he out of the blue says "I don't want to," it usually means we DOES want to!

So it was no surprise when I got home yesterday and his first words were, "I've decided to go to Florida!"  After teasing him a bit about his Florida "vacation" and how I deserve one so much more than he does, I told him there were just a few things he needed to do before he went. He needed to line someone up to plow the driveway and shovel the ramp for me if it snowed while he was gone, because I can't afford to be trapped here and can't plow or shovel myself. The second thing was someone needed to get the trash can out to the road Sunday night or Monday morning, because there again I'm physically unable to do it. And the third thing was,he needed to find someone to exercise his dog every day. I do the best I can, and sometimes he misses a day of walking, but there's no way I can handle him if he goes six days straight without a walk!

Tonight he told me he "can't" go because he'll never find anyone to plow the drive or walk the dog. I can't believe it, in this economy? This morning half the vehicles I saw driving through Harrison were trucks with plows on the front! I'm sure at least ONE would be willing to pick up an extra customer for one weekend! The same with Jerry - - he is fun to play with, for someone who is familiar with big dogs.

So I guess I better be ready to hear him say over and over again that the reason why he's not going is because "my wife won't let me go."  This is so unfair, because I don't care if he goes or not! I'm so used to him being gone, I rarely miss him anymore! But I think it's unfair of him to keep gallivanting off having fun with his friends and leaving me in dire straights like this. He NEEDS to start taking my safety into consideration! How can anyone with any kind of brain at all think that this behavior is in any way okay???? I just don't understand him at all, how he can be so thoughtless and so resentful when I point out the obvious to him!

Rescued! Is My Favorite Breed!

I've always wanted to do work with pet adoptions; work with a rescue group or shelter in some way. But with my physical gimpiness and my immune deficiency, it wasn't very feasible. If I put myself in a position to be knocked down, bitten, generally be in contact with an infected or diseased animal or its feces, I was just asking for trouble.

But last summer I joined a Facebook group called Rescued! Is My Favorite Breed. Basically they had some cute designs and slogans for tee shirts and bumper stickers, and if a particular rescue group wanted to use their products as fundraisers it was a match made in heaven. If you bought a certain minimum number of shirts, they could even design one specifically for your rescue group.

I thought the designs were pretty cool, so I ordered shirts for my kidney walk team, to set us apart from the other walkers. Also I helped them update their national directory in December, and spread the word to California rescue groups about their latest sweepstakes, yay me.

Today the group started making new pages for each state and signing on admins, so naturally I volunteered for the Michigan page! So I've found a way to promote animal adoption and be involved in pet rescue without putting myself at risk! Feeling pretty good about myself today!

Volunteer Success!

Over the past week, I did some volunteer social networking for "Rescued! Is My Favorite Breed" regarding a sweepstakes sponsored by Woofsticks. The winner was to receive a Woofstick dog toy package and the rescue group of their choice was given $200. The winning group was one that I contacted and heard back from a few nights ago, yay me! If I thought Cooper or Jerry would play with a Woofstick, I'd order them one in celebration!